On Tuesday, Dallas Mavericks fans again received harrowing news, this time in the form of Kyrie Irving’s season-ending injury.
Per ESPN’s Shams Charania, Irving has officially suffered a torn ACL in his left knee following a fall to the floor after slicing down the lane versus the Kings on Monday night. At 32-years-old, he was amidst an All-Star season, and one of the few driving forces left for the Mavericks’.
The team has already been hindered by the trading of longtime superstar Luka Doncic to the Lakers — a widely covered, but still surreal event — and even moreso by recipient star Anthony Davis getting hurt in his first game with Dallas.
Now, the team is running out of options. Its stars in Irving and Davis are out, ancillary pieces like Dereck Lively, PJ Washington and Jaden Hardy continue to miss time as well, and outside of the growing injury report, the team simply doesn’t seem to have the talent level that took it to the Finals a year ago.
One option — if you can even call it that, given real control over the situation is steadily decreasing — is to position itself for a better pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
As it stands now, the Mavericks rank No. 13 in the reverse standings at 32-30, good for a lottery pick. There’s no hopes of catching the bottom-tier teams in terms of draft odds, but Dallas could in the least rise a few spots with some well-positioned lineups and rotations.
Again, there’s a chance injury luck has done that for them. But at this point, there’s no real purpose in making a dedicated push for the postseason with so little to gain.
The Mavericks have done well in recent years at the Draft, most recently getting one of its best contributors in the late-lottery. While the organization’s 2024-25 season has been a disaster so far, a pick around the top-10 could be a minuscule consolation prize.
Getting one last top-tier selection could be vital, too, as the Mavericks aren’t set to control their future picks for the next several years.
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